Nora
by Xeen Cyr
Summary: During an op', McNally finds something that can change their lives


ROOKIE BLUE (isn't mine)

_**NORA**_

_I'm having the worse writer's block ever! i promise i'll finish my other stories (eventually). in the meantime, i came up with that. it's just a fluff, please no flame -blame it on my dog ;)_

-o-

Sam Swarek pocketed his note pad and turned to his partner. "You did the right thing McNally. It was a close call, but you followed your guts, and you were right." His face was serious and she could tell he was relieved. She smiled. She had heard his signature catchphrase a hundred times since they had been partnered together eons ago. She nodded and watched the frantic ballet of ambulances and patrol cars in front of the derelict warehouse where they had managed to take down half a dozen arms dealers. They had been lucky. Despite their strong resistance and a brief fire exchange, nobody had been hit today. A sprained ankle, some bruises, that was good.

"Yep, I didn't think we could pull this one off," she confessed, her gaze fanning the scene. She spotted Dov and Chris dragging two suspects, with Gail in their tow. A radiant Traci was there too, momentarily off desk duty, and she was looking fierce. "So what now?"

"Now, we canvass the warehouse one last time before dissolving the perimeter. We have to make sure that the premises are cleared. And after that, you and I are going to have lunch, McNally, what else?"

She grinned and followed him back to the warehouse. "Eyes opened," he said, ready to draw his gun. "You never know. There could be more of them and they probably know exactly where to hide."

She felt her stomach churn. They began the search along with other teams. Noelle was already upstairs with Shaw and Andrews. "Okay. We're good," Sam said after a good ten minutes. He signalled their work was done over the radio, each team after another doing the same thing, the 'roger that' echoing on their receivers. They were on their way out when Andy stopped. "Listen, can you hear that?"

"What," Sam put his hand on his weapon. He frowned. "What is it? A rooster?"

"I'd say it's a dog," she said, going back inside.

"McNally, a dog barks, there's no way this noise comes from a dog." She walked on and stopped before a door. "Careful." They drew their guns. She opened the door with extra caution and entered a tiny dark room. The noise was getting louder. Stumbling across a box, she cussed, grabbed her flashlight and crouched.

She opened the box and her face lighted up. "Look at you! You're so cute," she cooed. "Look Sam, it's a puppy!" she cheered taking the little dog out of its box.

"A puppy?" The small dog wiggled in her arms. His flashlight was going from her happy face to the dog. "It's not a dog McNally, it's… I don't know, I'd say a gargoyle…"

"Don't be so judgmental. It's a pug," she shrugged. "Our neighbour, Mrs McCluski had a cluster of them when I was a child. Isn't it adorable?" She nuzzled against the puppy, muttering idiotic words.

Sam sighed. "Okay, I'm calling animal services."

"No, you're not!" she protested, her eyes wide, shaking her head with energy. "Would you hold it for me please, I can't read the name tag," she said, thrusting the dog into Sam's arms. He held it awkwardly with his arms stretched out. The dog blinked, cocked its head, wailed and peed itself. "Sam, you're frightening her."

Sam rolled his eyes. "Hurry up, will you. I'm hungry."

"It's a she. Her name is Nora,' Andy said, set on ignoring his snarky remarks.

"No way, Nora's my aunt."

"Can we keep her, please!" she begged, cuddling the dog. "We can change her name, if you want."

"You want to keep it? I'm not having a dog."

"We could share."

"Share a dog? Are you listening to yourself McNally?" She was unable to say whether he was pissed or entertained.

"Sammy, time to feed ourselves," Oliver Shaw piped in, flashing his torch inside the closet. "You two get a room will you or I'll have to… oh, for the love of god, what's this McNally?"

Sam turned around and placed his thumbs under his belt. His head tilted to his partner. "McNally found it. She says it's a dog."

"No way. It's so…" Shaw made a face and came closer. "Hello you, doggy, doggy, doggy…" The dog went nuts.

"See!" Andy's voice was triumphant. "Everybody loves her already. She could be our mascot."

"I don't think so," Sam argued.

"Please?"

How could he resist that?

"Okay, I'm going to let you two decide if you keep the child or not," Oliver quipped. "We're off for lunch. Epstein picked the place already. Taco, taco, taco, taco…" he chanted striding away.

"Please Sam, could we keep it until we figure it out?"

"We? There's no we here, you want to keep the dog, keep it, I fail to see why this is any of my business."

"Okay. I'll take her to the car."

"This thing already peed on me, she's not messing with my car now."

"But we have to find her a place to stay. We can't take her to the barn, Trace's not even at the desk today. So what do you say, your place or mine?"

"I thought you'd never asker McNally," he teased her.

"I mean… You know what I mean!" He grinned. "It's…" She paused. "Luke's house, I mean our house is a half hour away, that is if you want to skip lunch," she trailed. "So it's at least one hour drive."

"Oh yes, I forgot about that," he sniggered. "So are you two settling in? It's been like what? A month, right?" he asked, walking away and looking straight ahead. She scurried along, holding to the dog.

"More like three, we're good, thank you," she added dryly.

"Good," he snapped.

"Sam, is it okay to take her to your place? Just for the afternoon?" She asked again when they stopped by the patrol car.

"You want to take that thing to my place? First my uniform, then my car and now my house?"

"I mean, I don't know what to do with her. I'm not even sure that Luke would agree to have a dog."

"Why don't you call him and ask, then," he smirked, sliding inside the car. "Unless he can't be bothered because he's working," he said, fingers quoting in the air. He slammed the door. "Get in McNally, will you!"

She hurried inside and buckled up, placing the puppy carefully on her lap. She felt asleep instantly. "I mean, look at her? How bad could it be?"

"I wouldn't know. This is my first time," Sam snapped.

"Would you stop with the lame jokes for five minutes?"

"If you're thinking of dumping her at my place, I have every right to make the lamest jokes I can think of," he said, starting the car.

"You're telling me that you want to abandon that poor thing? Seriously?"

"That poor thing? McNally, have you ever had a dog? That poor thing is a catastrophe waiting to happen."

"You kidding right? She's not even three pounds!"

"I'll remind you of that when you'll have to replace all my shirts she's going to tear to shreds and half my furniture that she'll ruin anyway." Her head dropped to her chest and she fondled the puppy. "Okay. What's in it for me?" he said.

She grinned. "I'll walk her every morning and every night."

"Andy, you live out of town."

"I'll buy a car. No problem. Half of the time, I have to wait for Luke to get back home anyway. That'll be a distraction."

"I see. Now that you live happily ever after with Callaghan, not only do you need a dog, but you need also a car to help me with a dog I don't even want in the first place. Am I getting it right?"

She looked back down at the dog and back to Sam. "No. You nailed it perfectly," she said in a low voice. "I get it. You don't want the dog. I'll find someone else, because there's no way I'm leaving her at the pond."

"I know," he sighed. "You're that type."

"What?"

"The type that goes rushing to the rescue of every lost soul," he grinned.

"Okay. I take it this is a yes then?"

"Yes. But Nora's our dog, that means that as soon as I find her an adoptive family, you'll let her go, is that clear?"

"Crystal, sir."

"Fine. Shall we eat now?"

"We've got to find her some pet food or she's going to starve. She's only a baby."

"You gotta be kidding me! Come on Andy, she's going to be fine with what's in my fridge."

"No, she won't. She deserves some healthy food."

"What's wrong with Chinese and pizza?"

She rolled her eyes. "Just stop at the next 7 Eleven, please."

When she came back, Sam was playing with the dog.

"We're all set," she said, dropping a bag of dry pet food. "I got her beef strips too."

"And I found her a home."

"Oh…" Her eyes glazed over.

"Don't get emotional, she's going to be fine. Zoe agreed to take her."

"Zoe as in Ollie's Zoe?"

"Yep."

"Oh, that's great! She'll have the garden and Ollie's daughters are great."

"And you can visit her anytime you want. I'll take you. Every day if you want to. We can always arrange to live in Ollie's garage if that's more convenient."

"Oh, shut up and drive, will you!"


End file.
